Staying ahead of the bird flu threat

Since 2022, Minnesota poultry producers have faced devastating losses from an aggressive strain of H5N1 avian influenza, known as 2.3.4.4b clade, first transmitted by migratory birds from Europe. Millions of birds have been affected in all fifty states across the U.S., and many farms devastated. But few studies have probed how this virus is evolving and how the change of the virus impacts its transmission and infection in poultry.

Now, with $650,000 in new funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture (USDA-NIFA), researchers at the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine (CVM) are stepping in to close that gap. Led by Zheng Xing, professor in the Department of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences, the project will investigate how recent strains of the highly pathogenic H5N1 behave in poultry and test a new vaccine strategy to help prevent future outbreaks.  Find the full story here.